Staff Member

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Gar Wood's stuff is really interesting - and there's a huge history of boat racing on the Detroit River. In fact, one of the reasons the auto industry grew up in Detroit has to do with the boat-building industry already there. Michigan has lousy coal for use in marine engines, so gasoline engines became the standard. With that tribal knowledge already in place, it wasn't a huge step to start building road-going vehicles

I also can't help but wonder if some young man in Detroit in the mid- to late-1920s was inspired to fit a Vee'd windshield to his gow because of Gar Wood and his cohorts.

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Cool video.... I should get pics cause you guys won't believe me, but we were cleaning the shop the other day and dragged an aluminium V-16 block and heads down from the rafters... Those things are BIG!

Here's a link to a small page about the V-16 Caddy powered, '32 framed, 23 Dodge our founder picked up in the 50's.

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Gar Wood was an unbelievable talent. I have one of his boats, a 1946 Ensign. There's nothing like the thunder of those big engines in boats. I love to hear the Libertys, just rock the air when they are fired up.

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Great story , he says they pulled the Miller's before the race because of a failure and put the Packard's back in . Then later he says #8 is the only Miss America with the original engines that it was raced with ?

Member

Gar Wood's stuff is really interesting - and there's a huge history of boat racing on the Detroit River. In fact, one of the reasons the auto industry grew up in Detroit has to do with the boat-building industry already there. Michigan has lousy coal for use in marine engines, so gasoline engines became the standard. With that tribal knowledge already in place, it wasn't a huge step to start building road-going vehicles

I also can't help but wonder if some young man in Detroit in the mid- to late-1920s was inspired to fit a Vee'd windshield to his gow because of Gar Wood and his cohorts.

-Dave

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Wow, amazing Detroit history!! Ryan, doubt anyone on the board frowns upon you sharing this wonderful story. Thanks for sharing.
Couple guys died in a historical boat race, north of Orlando, a few weeks ago. Tragic!!
JT

Member

Old vehicles of any kind, but especially the modified, altered, custom, powerful, artful and fast; whether they roll on wheels or float on water, should find a place on the HAMB! Many thanks for sharing that!
Willy

ALLIANCE MEMBER

I wonder if the Miss America VIII ever got sold after the auction? You know, in the sale goes on stuff that Mecum does. I also wonder what happened to the engines all those years that they were separated from the original hull? Where did they go? Were they ever put in another boat; either alone or together? Who ownerd them?

This boat is just spectacular amd I can't understand why someone with the wherewithal didn't scoop it up. The point that the narrator of the video made about new boats costing over one million bucks and then being worth less than half that within the year would make one think that a one-off, never to be made again boat of significant historical value had to be worth a million all day long. Shows what I know...